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Second-half surge pushes No. 8 Wheaton (Ill.) to 5-2 victory

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- Facing a halftime deficit for the first time since a September 24 loss to Loras, No. 8 Wheaton (Ill.) responded in a big way on Wednesday night. The Thunder scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half and then scored two goals in a 35-second span later in the half to roll to a 5-2 victory against the Augustana Vikings. With the victory, Wheaton (13-3-1, 4-0-1) is now unbeaten in its last nine games since the loss to Loras.

Wheaton outshot the Vikings (5-9-1, 0-5) 16-7 in the match including a 10-3 edge in the decisive second half. Both teams managed three corner kicks. Wheaton goalie Derek Babb allowed two goals in 90 minutes of action while his counterpart, Tyler Cowherd, made five saves and allowed five goals.

Adam Blackman's sixth goal of the season gave Wheaton the early edge just nine minutes into the match. Augustana answered in the 29th minute when Patrick Nelson converted on a Matt Shipon assist to tie the game. The Vikings were able to steal the momentum right before halftime when Michael Brazinski scored at the 43:04 mark to give Augustana a 2-1 lead at the intermission.

Wheaton quickly regained control of the match in the 51st minute when Stephen Golz used a Noah Anthony assist to convert his 13th goal of the season. Five minutes later, Marshall Hollingsworth scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal to give the Thunder a 3-2 cushion.

Hollingsworth added a second goal at the 67:13 with the help of Golz and Kevin Skinker to make it 4-2 but Golz would not be outdone and added his second goal of the match at 67:48 with an assist from Blackman to account for the 5-2 advantage.